Jordan Summers - [Dead World 01] (38 page)

She stepped on the accelerator,
ignoring the Repub
lic
of Arizona's
speed detectors. They flashed, recording
her photo image as she zoomed by. Red didn't care.
Let them fine
her. Nothing mattered but getting home
to her grandfather, Robert Santiago. He'd know
what
to do. what to say to make it all better.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, blurring her vision.

She
wiped them away and kept driving. She needed
to put distance between her and Nuria. She choked
an
pain fractured her internally.

This could not be happening. There was no way
she could enter a crime scene without being
detected,
much less eat another human being. She gagged at the thought,
slamming her foot on the brake. The car skidded wildly before gliding to a
halt. Red barely got the door open before she vomited.

Gasping for breath, her mind
flashed back to Mor
gan's
transformation. He'd been nearly silent when he
approached her and more deadly looking than any
thing she'd ever witnessed. Was it possible for him to
kill
someone without leaving a trace? Could she?

Red recalled the animal tracks at the scenes and it
triggered her gag reflex. She continued to throw up until there was nothing
left inside. Shivers racked her body as an unnatural cold swept over her arms
and into her shoulder blades, settling in her chest. Red
wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve and
then
climbed into the car.

This was a dragon she couldn't begin to slay. She
needed a brave knight. She needed her grandfather.
Red had been a fool to think this was a simple case of
murder
and that it would be easily solved in a few days. She was only one woman
against a town full of monsters.

Red reached IPTT shortly after midnight. She didn't
bother to stop, driving directly to her grandfather's home instead. He'd be
asleep, but this couldn't wait until morning.

Robert Santiago's house was one of those newly
built two-story replicas of twentieth-century
design. It
had all the features of a smart home: food dispensers,
A.I. sensors, intrusion alarms with robotic
guards, and
the latest
air-filtration systems that could actually draw
water from the
atmosphere.

Red knocked on the door, pressing her hand repeatedly
on the
identification pad. It refused to open. She
banged harder, and finally her
grandfather, disheveled
and yawning, opened the door.

"Gina?" He squinted at her over his hooked
nose. "What
in the world are you doing here at this hour?"
he
asked.

"Oh Grandpa," she cried, launching herself
into his arms. "I need your help."

His arms tightened automatically. "What's happened?"
He glanced behind her, scanning the street.

Red noticed. "It's okay. I'm alone. Sorry it's so
late, but
I
need to talk to you."

He glanced at the time.
"Can't this wait until morn
ing?"
he asked.

"No."

"Are you harmed?" His gaze swept her.

She shook her head. "No,
I'm
not
injured."
At least
not anyplace visible.
"Can I
please come in?"

"Of course." He gave the street one more
look, then pulled her inside and shut the door, locking it behind them. Robert
walked her into the kitchen and sat her at the table. A few seconds later, he
pushed a steaming cup of synth-tea in front of her.

"Drink," he said.

Red lifted the cup to her lips
with trembling fingers. The tea burned her throat, while the delicate fragrance
of lemons tickled her nose. She had no
idea where to
begin her crazy tale. He would
probably force her into
taking a desk position after she'd finished.

Her grandfather waited patiently for her to drink her
tea, then he spoke. "Tell me what's happened. How did you get here?"

Red glanced at the face she knew as well as her own.
Compassion glowed in his eyes as he reached
out
and grasped her hand. "I drove," she said, shoring
up her
courage.

"You came here straight from Nuria? At this
hour?"

She nodded. "I had to."

"Why, child? What's happened?"

"Oh, Grandpa," she sobbed. "Morgan has
told me so many lies that I don't know which way is up."

"Morgan? Are you talking about Sheriff
Hunter?" he asked, perking with interest.

"Yes, the sheriff."

"What did he say that's upset you so?" He
didn't try to rush her into speaking: instead, he gave her all the time she
needed.

"This is going to sound insane." Her eyes
met his
and locked. "It sounds crazy
just forming the thoughts
in my mind, but I need you to believe
me."

He squeezed her hand in encouragement. "Go
on." "You have to understand. We're talking almost the whole
town."

Robert Santiago blinked. "The whole town what, Gina?"

She shook her head. "They're all. .. and he says
I am ... I know he's lying, but I don't know why. It doesn't make any sense.
Why would he lie to me about such a horrible thing? It's cruel."

"Honey, I don't know what you're talking about. I
need you to make sense. Take your time.
Think about
what
you want to say and tell me. I want to help, but you
have to do your
part."

Red stood and began to pace. Her boots tapped over
the tiles in
rapid fire. "I'm not like them. I can't be.
I would've known if I were.
Don't you think so? It's not something you can keep a secret, at least not for
long."

"Known what?"

"He's lying. Morgan has to be lying. Why did I
sleep with him? So what if the sex was good. I must have been out of my
mind." She stopped. "Scratch that, he's out of his."

"You slept with this man?" His eyes rounded.
"When did this happen?"

She glanced his way. "That's not important. I
mean it is, but it isn't." She threw her arms up in the air. "I don't
know anymore. It doesn't matter. That has nothing to do with this. Well, at
least not directly."

"Gina, please sit down. You're making me dizzy
and I still have no idea what you're talking about. You aren't making
sense."

"That's because I'm crazy. I've obviously gone
crazy because I'm seeing things. Things that can't possibly be real. No one can
transform from a human into an animal and back again. It's not possible."

"What did Rita have to say about this whole situation?"
he asked.

She glanced at her navcom and frowned. "I don't
know. I've had her powered down. Do you think I should ask her now?"

"Why did you power her down?" he asked, not
bothering to hide his shock. "You've never done anything without her. Not
for as long as I can remember and that's a very long time."

Red shrugged absently. "I guess I didn't need her
much, while I was in Nuria," she said, continuing to pace.

"Enough! I mean it."
He reached out and shackled
her wrists, pulling her into the chair next to him. "Now
tell me exactly what happened and what the sheriff
said to you. Start from the beginning."

Red regaled her grandfather with
the story of Mor
gan's transformation,
stopping only to take a breath. She described in detail the attack on her in
the share space. She even mentioned Jesse Lindley's untimely death, but for
some reason she couldn't bring herself to tell him her suspicions about Kane.

She realized that she wasn't protecting him. He didn't
deserve her consideration, if he'd done what she suspected. She was, however,
trying to protect Morgan, even though she doubted that he'd believe it. Why
would he after what she'd said?

Red continued with her outrageous story, jumping
straight to the part where Morgan accused her of be
ing an Other. She knew it sounded insane, even to her
own cars.
What must her grandfather think? He'd always been understanding and patient
with her in the past, but Red had no doubt she'd pushed him beyond his limit on
this one.

"Can you believe it?" she asked.
"Morgan's obvi
ously delusional."
She slapped her hand down onto the
table. "I mean really. Me? An
Other? Ridiculous! I
think we would've
noticed by now." She tried to joke,
but it came out edged with desperation. She needed her grandfather to
refute her story. Tell her everything was
going to be okay. Convince Morgan that he'd cried

Robert Santiago sat at the table, his hands calmly
clasped in front of him as he listened intently. The only indication that he'd
heard what she said was the whitening of his features.

"Do you love this man?"

She paused. "What?"

"I said, do you love this man?"

Red sat back a moment. "What does that have to do
with anything I just told you?"

"Please answer the question, Gina," he said
patiently.

Her expression soured. "I don't know. Maybe. It
doesn't really matter anymore because I'm never go
ing to go back to Nuria." She leaned closer. "Grandpa,
I
need you to tell me he's crazy."

He remained so still that Red touched him to en
sure he hadn't fallen asleep. He looked up.
"Grandpa,
please." She
sniffled as the cold weight of truth settled
upon her narrow shoulders.

"I can't," he finally said, shaking his
head. Tears rimmed his tired eyes as he stared into her face. "I can't.
I'm so sorry, special one."

Red stood so fast that she toppled the chair.
"What do you mean you can't? He's made a mistake. You know it. Why are you
lying?"

He shook his head wearily. "Gina, you know I'm
not," he said, seeming to crumble before her eyes.

"Not you, too. Why are you doing this to me? Did
Morgan contact you before I arrived and tell you to say these things?"

"No, child." He reached for her, but she
backed away.

"I don't understand." She ran her hand
through her
hair, sending loose strands
into her face. "This doesn't
make sense. Nothing makes sense
anymore."

"I should've told you a long time ago. I just
didn't
know how. You were so young and scared,"
he said,
grasping the cup she'd emptied earlier. He stared into the
bottom of it, his gaze growing distant.

Red stopped. "Told me what?" It was as if
her
nightmares had suddenly sprung to life
and were now
wreaking havoc on her waking hours.

"About your father," he said softly.

"What about Daddy?" She closed the distance
between them.

He glanced at her. "What do you remember about
him?"

"Not much." Her gaze
dropped to her feet. "I know
he died
in the car accident."

Robert Santiago shook his head. "That's what we
told you."

"We?"

"Your mother and I. You were too young to hear
the truth."

Red's throat constricted, nearly
strangling her. She
could barely focus on
his words as a loud buzzing
started in her
ears. Her vision blurred and she reached
out to steady herself using the
wall.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Fine," she said, pushing away. "What
happened to Dad?"

"He was killed."

"I know that," she said, confused.

Her grandfather shook his head
and sadness banked
his brown eyes.
"They murdered him."

Red swayed on her feet. "Who murdered him?"
She'd kill them if they weren't already dead. Her
hand moved to her weapon, but found emptiness. She let out
a sigh. Morgan still had her gun. She'd been in
such a
hurry to get out of town that she'd left without it.

"The same people who created him . .. and all the
Others."

"Created? Dad's parents were from the Floridian
Islands."

He laughed, but it held no mirth. "That was the
story he told everyone."

"But I don't understand. Why would he do
that?"

"Because your father had
been created in a lab dur
ing the last
world war."

She shook her head. 'That's not possible. He showed me
the vids of when he was little. I saw his parents in the background. He
couldn't have been more than thirty-five when he died."

"Forgeries," he said softly. "Some of
the Others were created from pure-blood men and women, who had volunteered to
help the war effort. They were mainly soldiers. Others, like your father, were
developed in test tubes. They aged slightly slower than pure-blood humans, but
would eventually grow old and die. Not that your father had the chance
..."